


Little Ritsuka and her Loving Family

by kamenhero25



Series: Little Ritsuka's Journey Through Time and Space [1]
Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Fate/stay night (Visual Novel)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Humor, Olga Marie Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-03-12 01:18:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13536600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamenhero25/pseuds/kamenhero25
Summary: When the Mage's Association sent her a ten year old Master, Olga Marie Animusphere thought she was the victim of some practical joke.  When said ten year old was her last option to save the world, she thought that fate was screwing with her.  Then she met that ten year old's family and wondered if she'd just gone mad.





	1. Chapter 1

Olga Marie Animusphere was in her element.  Giving orders, making things happen, and generally reminding the new Master candidates who was in charge at Chaldea.  At least she was until she saw who was sitting in the middle of the front row.  "I'm sorry, but who let a child in here."  A small girl, one who couldn't have been more than ten, was indeed sitting directly in the middle of the first row of candidates.  She looked up at Marie with firm, icy blue eyes.

"Mama was working on something and then there was an explosion and I ended up at the Association," the little girl said.  "They sent me here to get me out of the way."

Marie felt a shiver run down her spine as she remembered another little girl sent to Chaldea against her will.  "I see.  Why don't you go down the hall and look for a woman in fancy red and blue clothes?  She'll keep an eye on you while we have our meeting."

The little girl looked up at her then shrugged.  "Alright.  It has to be more interesting than sitting here."  Marie fought the urge to reply as the girl skipped out.

\------------------------------

Olga Marie was wondering how the hell she'd gotten in to this mess.  Being stuck inside a singularity without proper preparations or resources was bad enough.  Having her only possible master left alive as a surly nine year old seemed like a bad joke.  "Your parents were magi, right?" she asked the child.

"Mama was a first class magus," the girl said proudly.  "Papa was a total failure, but he could do some fun tricks."

Olga elected not to ask.  "Good.  Then I hope you have a basic understanding of ritual magic.  I'm afraid you might be our only hope of getting out of this alive."  She turned to their only other resource of value.  "Kyrielight, is the summoning matrix established?"

"Ah," Mash jumped and looked up from her work.  "I think so Director.  We're tapped into the local leyline enough to communicate with headquarters again."

There was a moment of static and then the image of Dr. Roman appeared in the air.  "You're alive!" he shouted.  "Oh thank God, I was starting to think you weren't going to make it."  He smiled a huge, genuine smile.  "And you have little Ritsuka with you.  I hope you're keeping her safe, Mash."

"Yes, Doctor," Mash said, standing up a little straighter.  "I'll be sure to protect senpai.  It's my duty as a Servant."

"That's our reliable kohai."  The doctor sighed with relief.  "But I'm afraid we don't have time to play around.  The singularity you're in is slowly destabilizing.  You're going to have to resolve the distortion before we can bring you home."

Olga Marie sighed.  "I was afraid of that.  Is the summoning system ready for activation?"

"Ah, yes it is.  We don't have enough power for much, but it should allow you to summon one Servant.  But Ritsuka as the Master..."

"She's our only option," Marie interrupted.  "I lack the compatibility to summon a useful Servant.  We'll have to rely on her natural talents."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Roman sighed.  "Alright, we're establishing the connection now.  Ritsuka-chan, I need you to focus your magical energy and connect to the ritual circle.  Chaldea's systems will pick up the slack and make sure the Servant is powered sufficiently, but you need to anchor them."

"I know how a summoning system works," Ritsuka said, turning up her nose and raising her hand.  Her circuits began to glow and the air blasted away from the connection point as she initiated the ritual.  Marie threw up a hand to shield her eyes from the dust and light.  She was really starting to wonder where this girl was from.  A top class mage, with an abnormally high compatibility as a Master, who already knew about Servant summoning systems wasn't someone who came out of nowhere.

"Whoa, that's quite the reaction," Roman called over the sound of the ritual.  "Servant coming through in three... two... one..."

There was another flash and a man appeared in the middle of the circle.  His skin was tanned incredibly dark and his hair bleached white.  A long red coat blew around his body, covering a suit of closely fitted black armor.  "I am Servant Archer.  I have answered you call to..."

"Papa!"  Marie and the new Servant both stopped dead as Ritsuka threw her arms around his waist.

The Servant looked very confused for a moment.  Then comprehension dawned on his face and he put a hand on her shoulder.  "Ah.  I see.  In life I was the hero of justice whose name was never known.  But before that I was known as Shirou Emiya.  You were my daughter?"

Ritsuka looked up at him and nodded quickly.  "I was waiting for you and mama to come get me."

EMIYA looked nervous for a moment.  "Ah.  Who exactly was your mama?"

Suddenly there was a loud beeping sound and Roman appeared again.  "We've got a problem!  There's a chain summoning phenomenon occurring!  Be prepared for possible hostilities.  It might not be as friendly as our new ally."  There was a second eruption of light and another figure appeared from the summoning circle.  Her dark hair hung down to her waist and bright red eyes peered at the others.  A very skimpy white bikini edged in gold covered her light skin a little, along with a single deep blue stocking.

"Hmmm?"  She looked around, clearly confused.  "Oh, it seems you're all struck dumb by my appearance.  I am the amazing goddess of beauty and war..."

"Mama!"  The second Servant was cut off as Ritsuka practically tackled her in her haste to give her a hug too.

"What?"  The goddess looked down at her baffled for a few seconds, then yelped as her own left hand came up and punched her in the jaw.  "Ow!"

"Stupid goddess!"  The words came from her own lips, but the tone changed entirely, losing the formal edge and sounding extremely annoyed.  "She's my daughter, so this is my problem!  Get out of my head and let me handle it!"

"Ow, ow, ow."  The entire group from Chaldea watched as the goddess's hands beat her own skull.  "Alright already!  Spoilsport..."

The goddess settled down and when she opened her eyes again, they were a familiar bright blue.  "My apologies for that.  I am a Servant of the Archer class.  My name is Rin Tohsaka.  I'm currently renting a portion of my brain to the goddess Ishtar in exchange for borrowing her abilities so I can manifest in this vessel."

"Apparently you're borrowing her wardrobe too," EMIYA teased.

Rin very slowly looked down at her own outfit.  For a very long moment, there was no reaction.  Then she very gently untangled herself from Ritsuka's arms as she rapidly began to turn red.  "Emiya!  Give me your clothes!"

EMIYA had just enough time to look afraid before Rin full body tackled him to the ground.  "Good lord woman!  Don't start tearing my clothes off when other people can see it!"

"Stop talking and give me that jacket."  Finally, Rin emerged from the struggle with Emiya's jacket covering her much more than her original outfit had.  "Ritsuka!"  She reached down and grabbed the girl in a massive hug.  "I was looking for you!  Then everything started exploding and I had to cut a deal with this idiot to come find you.  I'm so glad you're okay sweetie."

"I missed you too mama," the little red-head said, hugging her back.

Olga Marie was now absolutely certain that she really didn't want to have to deal with this crazy ass family.  "What did I do to deserve this?"


	2. Chapter 2

Olga Marie grumbled as she stepped over another pile of rubble as the team walked near the river.  Whatever had happened to this city had certainly left its mark.  Meanwhile, Ritsuka had steadfastly refused to let go of her mother’s hand and was hopping across the piles of stones like a gymnast.  Mash had started a brief chat on the nature of Servants with the other Archer and had fallen slightly behind.  She was so focused on the… unusual companions with her that she ran straight into another chunk of stone.  She grumbled a little as she picked herself up, looking up at the statue.  Then her words died on her lips when she saw its face.  The stone was worked into an expression of pure, unrelenting terror that was far too real.

“It’s scary,” Ritsuka murmured, hiding behind her mother’s legs.

“It’s certainly interesting,” EMIYA said, opening his palms.  “Trace on.”  There was a glow of mana around his hands and two swords, one white and one black, manifested in his hands.

Olga Marie felt slightly sick to her stomach as she back away from the screaming figure.  “That’s… not a statue.  Kyrielight, battle positions.”

Mash immediately leaped to the front of the group, her shield at the ready.  “Ready for hostiles director.  Master, please give me your orders.”

“Protect mama so they don’t get too close,” Ritsuka said.  “Papa can take care of himself.”

Olga Marie was slightly impressed that the girl had put together a half decent strategy so fast, especially for a child.  “I’m glad you have such faith in me,” EMIYA said dryly.  “I’ll be counting on you to keep them safe Mash.”

“How touching,” a voice said from just above them.  “I was going to ask what you were doing in my territory Archer, but you’re not the Archer I know, are you?”  A figure in a black cloak appeared in a cloud of darkness, a long polearm with a sickle-like blade in one hand.

“Oh great, so there’s an evil version of me running around,” EMIYA muttered.  “Just what I needed today…”

“Focus on that later and her now,” Rin said, a massive gold and blue bow taller than she was manifesting next to her.

“She looks like Auntie ‘Dusa…” Ritsuka said softly.  “That’s really bad, isn’t it?”

“Two Archers.  How interesting.”  The black clad Servant vanished for an instant, reappearing in the middle of the group faster than the human eye could follow.  “But I’m afraid you’re at a disadvantage here.”  She whipped the blade around, aiming for Rin’s neck, but EMIYA was there in an instant, intercepting the blow on the flat of his blades.

“You’re a sneaky one, aren’t you?” he muttered, barely holding the brute force of her strike back with both hands.  The others all scrambled away, Rin keeping Ritsuka behind her while Mash covered the Director’s retreat.

The enemy Servant just scoffed and kicked EMIYA in the stomach, sending him hurtling backwards.  “You’re definitely not the one I know.  You’re far too weak.  At least this will be over quickly.  And two people who can power three Servants between them will make a good meal for me.  Better than these fools certainly.”

“Now that’s just rude.”

Another male voice echoed through the air and both EMIYA and Rin groaned.  Ritsuka looked around with more curiosity then fear.  “Who’s that mama?”

“A troublesome person,” Rin said.  “But a potentially friendly one.”

The invisible voice laughed.  “Troublesome?  Man, you sound like my old teacher.  I wasn’t even going to come down here until I realized that you weren’t acting like the Archer who’s been giving me grief for the last day.”

“How about you just come out already, Lancer?” EMIYA said, pushing himself back to his feet.

“Lancer?”  There was a shower of blue light and a man in a sky blue robe lined with white fur appeared on the bank above the river.  “I wish.  Now I’m sure you’re not from around here.”

“Caster,” the black clad Servant growled.  “I’m amazed none of the others has managed to kill you off yet.”

“Yeah about that… they’re all kind of dead.”  Caster waves his hand and a series of runes glowed in midair.  The black Servant screamed and threw herself clear, trying to avoid getting too scorched as a pillar of fire erupted from the ground.  “I was trying to figure out how to come after you, but then these kind folks showed up and made things so much easier for me.  That is, if they don’t mind working with a troublesome guy.”

EMIYA chuckled.  “I guess I can tolerate you for a little while.  If Ritsuka doesn’t mind providing a little extra power.”

Ritsuka’s eyes shined with determination and she nodded.  “I can do it papa.  I’m a top-class mage.”

“Papa, huh?”  Caster slid down the hill and stopped next to Ritsuka and Rin.  “Well, if your papa thinks so highly of you, it would be rude to deny such a cute little lady my services.”  He knelt down and offered her a hand.  Ritsuka looked up at Rin for a moment then took his hand and her command seals flashed once.  “Then I’ll leave the orders up to you.”

“Go help papa stop that mean lady.  And don’t let her turn anyone else to stone.”

Caster smiled.  “Well, I can’t very well refuse an order like that, now can I?”  He spun his staff and stepped forward next to EMIYA.  “Think you can manage that, buddy?”

“Easily.  And call me Archer.”  Then they two Servants leaped at their opponent.

Olga Marie wasn’t quite sure what she was watching, but it looked like the single most unorthodox pair of Servants she’d ever seen: an Archer who fought with swords and a Caster who loved melee combat.  The fact that it was working just made things baffling.  Kyrielight had jumped in and started helping at some point, intercepting swipes from the evil Lancer’s blade and keeping her back from the other Servants.  Things came to a rather abrupt end when Caster finally blasted Lancer with a point blank fireball and Archer followed up by taking her head clean off.

“Yay!  I knew you could do it papa!”  Ritsuka jumped past Rin and threw her arms around EMIYA’s waist.

“Not going to ask how a Heroic Spirit has a kid,” Caster said, absently laying his staff across his shoulders.  “But you’re a lucky guy.”

“And you’re significantly less annoying when you’re not a Lancer,” EMIYA said.  “I didn’t think I’d actually be fighting with you this time.”

Cu Chulainn laughed.  “I think I’d rather have you as an ally than an enemy.  You were a royal pain in my ass last time we met.”

EMIYA’s face hardened.  “I have a feeling we’re going to need all of the details about that one,” he said.  “Before we run into something that catches us off-guard.”

Cu’s cheerful expression vanished.  “This place is serious fu…”  He stopped for a second and looked down at the little girl.  “Messed up.  It starts with a corrupt Holy Grail and some really bad luck…”

\------------------------------

Olga Marie gasped for breath as she ran to keep up with the rest of the team.  A nine year old being able to outlast her stung just a little bit and she swore to add some basic physical conditioning to her weekly practice schedule as soon as they made it back to Chaldea in one piece.  Assuming that EMIYA and Cu didn’t get themselves killed fighting the Archer’s evil doppelganger.

“You’re approaching the location of the Greater Grail,” Roman’s voice said through their link.  “I detect something extremely powerful up ahead.  There’s a major magical reaction going on, but there’s definitely something else there too.  It must be the Servant Caster warned us about.”

Olga nodded as they emerged from the top of the mountain path.  Ahead of them, a massive crater burned with blood red light and shot mana high into the swirling clouds.  “I can’t believe that something like this is the Holy Grail.”

“It feels bad,” Ritsuka said, looking up at the sky.  “It’s not supposed to be like that.”

Rin clicked her tongue and scowled.  “Another corrupt Grail… You’d think people would have learned by now.”  Then she suddenly manifested her bow again and narrowed her eyes.  “But I don’t think we have time to marvel over it.  Ritsuka, get back.”

Olga felt a shiver run down her spine as a figure in black armor stepped over the edge of the crater.  Her eyes were hidden behind a black and red visor, but the Director had a feeling that she was staring right at them.  “That’s…”

“The system is identifying the Saint’s Graph,” Roman said, panic evident in his voice.  “That’s King Arthur.”  There was a long moment of silence.  “King Arthur was a woman?”  Olga very much wished that the scientist was actually there so she could glare at him.  “Not really the issue here I suppose.  Her form’s been corrupted somehow, but she’s still extremely powerful.”

“Mama Saber,” Ritsuka murmured.  “No… No, that’s not right.  Why is she a bad guy too?”

“It’s alright honey,” Rin murmured, setting a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.  “It’s not really her.  She just looks like her.  Just hold on a little longer and we’ll beat her and go home.”

Ritsuka took a moment to compose herself and nodded.  “Stop her mama,” she ordered, her voice firm.

“You have very unusual Servants,” the armored Saber said as she drew a sword sheathed in swirling shadows from her hip.

“She’s talking?” Mash said, looking a little startled.  She raised her shield, ready to intercept any attacks from their opponent.

The corrupted swordswoman ignored the shield bearer.  “That shield… yes, I see.  It seems that I cannot allow any of you to leave this place alive.”

“I guess we’re done talking then,” Rin muttered.  “But if you think I’m going to let you hurt my daughter while you’re wearing that face, you have another thing coming.”  She pointed her finger at the dark Servant.  “Fire!”  Then her bow drew back on its own and a massive arrow of mana launched straight at Saber Alter.  There was a massive flash of blue and the ground all around the crater exploded.  “Hmph, way too cocky.  Don’t underestimate me.”

“Get down!”  Mash leaped between the two, raising her shield just as a blast of black and red mana tore forward and nearly slammed straight into Rin.

“What?  How did she…?”  The dust around the impact of Rin’s arrow cleared and Saber Alter stepped forward completely unharmed.  Mana swirled so thick around her that it was visible in the air and ground at the earth around her feet, sending peddles and shard of rock flying around from her.  “Damn, her Mana Burst blocked it.”

“He would be unhappy if I didn’t finish things now,” Saber Alter said, raising her sword.  “My only regret is that I must destroy you immediately.  Ex-“  The dark sword began to glow and the shadows grew longer and darker as her mana levels rose.

“Oh no.  Ritsuka, run!”  Rin conjured a second massive arrow and fired it at her opponent.  Olga didn’t hesitate.  She just grabbed Ritsuka’s hand and tried to drag her clear of the blast zone.

“-Calibur Morgan!”  The blade came down and a massive wave of darkness burst forward, shattering the charged mana bolt in mid-flight and bearing down on the Chaldea team.

“Damn it, not like this,” Rin muttered.

“No, not like this,” Mash agreed.  She slammed her shield into the ground.  “For the future of humanity… we’re not done here yet!  Lord Chaldeas!”  The shimmering magical barrier erupted between them and the blast and the wave of mana collided with it with a thundering roar.  Ritsuka covered her ears and buried her face in Olga Marie’s stomach as the massive attack battled with Mash’s defense.  Then the wave of darkness shattered, leaving only a few wisps of power hovering in the air.  Even with the mask covering her face, Olga Marie could tell that the enemy Servant was baffled.

“That defense… it is…”  Whatever Saber Alter was trying to say, she was cut off as a shower of golden arrows rained down on her and she was forced to throw up another mana barrier.

“Damn, she’s too fast,” Rin muttered.  “I can’t break her defenses without someone to force through her guard.”  She dodged left as another crescent of dark energy cut towards her, leaving a deep crevice in the ground.

Ritsuka closed her eyes and clenched her hand.  “Mr. Roman, please, mama needs more help.  I need to do something.”

Roman sputtered a little trying to come up with an answer.  “Ah, Ritsuka, this is something that is way beyond even a trained magus.  A little girl like you would get hurt trying to get into the middle of that.”

“Then help me call more help!” Ritsuka shouted, stomping her foot on the ground.

“A… another summoning?  Now?”  He quickly began tapping on a computer that only he could see.  “It might just work.  If I can maybe tap into the Grail’s energy field…”  He fiddled around with a few controls.  “We’re only going to have one shot, so make it count.”

Ritsuka nodded and closed her eyes as Rin fired another barrage that was intercepted by Saber Alter’s protective field.  She folded her hands in front of her chest and her Command Seals began to glow.  “Please, please someone come and help mama stop her.  I need someone who can fight like Saber Mama.”

The ground cracked and mana poured out of the leylines into the little magus.  Then there was an explosion of power that caused the entire battlefield to come to a deep stop.  A pillar of blue light shot straight up and from within another figure in armor exploded outward, her blue dress whirling around her.  “From across space I have heard your call,” Arturia Pendragon said as she landed in front of her double, glowing golden blade already in hand.  “The King of Knights await your orders Master.”

“Saber Mama!”  Ritsuka’s eyes teared up and Olga had to grab her shoulder to keep her from running into the battlefield to hug the new Servant.

“Saber, stop that evil you!” Rin shouted as the Alter Servant shook off her sudden shock.

Arturia looked around in confusion for a moment.  “I have no idea what’s going on, but defeating evil is my sacred duty.  Have at you!”  She charged forward, her golden blade colliding with her double’s blade blade and sending off dual bursts of power as their mana collided.

“Another fly to swat,” Saber Alter growled, her strength evenly matched against her opponent.  “I never thought I would have to face you again.”

“Truly, I never believed I would face my own darkness in battle,” Arturia countered.  “But I will do what I must.”

Saber Alter actually smiled.  “You will certainly try.”  Their blades struck against each other again and again, their movements a near perfect mirror of each other as the twin Sabers clashed.  Saber Alter gave first, leaping back and focusing her mana around her blade again.  “No more of this.  Ex-“  Her cry was cut off as half a dozen arrows tore through her the instant her barrier vanished.

Rin lowered her hand, clenching it to try to stop it from trembling.  “You let your guard down.”

Saber Alter didn’t respond for a moment as she swayed in place and blood dripped from the sudden wounds.  “It seems that I was careless.  Even though I was to defend the Grail to the end… it seems that I cannot complete that task.”

Saber looked sad for a moment as she lowered her blade.  “You fought well, but the fight is over.  You can go in peace now.”

“Rin!”  EMIYA appeared up the path, followed closely the Cu.  “You’re alive.  And…”  his eyes widened slightly as he recognized the new Servant.  “Oh boy…”

“Looks like your little girl called up some more back-up,” Cu joked.  “Another old girlfriend?”

“Technically yes,” EMIYA said slowly.

Saber Alter laughed as the Servants gathered.  “I couldn’t even remove one of you.  How foolish…  But in the end this is only the beginning of the battle surrounding the Holy Grail.  The Grand Order begins here, heroes of Chaldea…  Be prepared…”  And with that, the darkened Servant dissolved into nothingness.

Olga Marie froze in place.  The Servants were all talking behind her, with EMIYA fussing over Rin and Cu congratulating Mash on mastering her Noble Phantasm, but she barely heard them.  “Those names… where did she hear them?”

“Miss Marie?”  Olga jolted out of her haze and Ritsuka looked up at her.  “Are you okay?”

“Ah, no.  I mean, yes, yes I’m fine.”  She shook herself.  She smiled down at the girl, trying to look encouraging.  “And it’s thanks to you Ritsuka.  We’ve managed to resolve this Singularity thanks to your… family.”  She didn’t have a better way to put it than that.  “It seems that you really were Chaldea’s best Master.”

“Ah, did the Director just compliment Rits-chan?” Roman suddenly cut in.  “I think you’ve actually taken a liking to her.”  His image appeared in the air, smiling broadly.

Olga Marie immediately turned red and looked away.  “She’s done everything she had to and kept remarkably calm given her age.  She deserves to be praised, doesn’t she?”

“Really now, this has gone far beyond what I can stand.  Really, I thought this child was some kind of bad joke from the Association, but to think that she would cause this much trouble for me…”  Olga jumped again as a very familiar voice called out to them.  She let go of Ritsuka and looked past her to see a familiar figure in a suit walking toward them.

“Professor Lev?!” Mash called out, completely baffled.

“Lev?” Roman said.  “Professor Lev is alive?!  He must have Reyshifted there as well.  Somehow.  Where on Earth has he been?”

“Romani?” the top hat wearing Professor said.  “So you survived too.  Blast, and even after I gave you direct orders.  You always were good at ignoring directions.”

“Ritsuka get back here,” Rin suddenly called out.  Her face was pale and one hand was clutched to her chest.  “The spirit inside me… she’s afraid of this man.”  Ritsuka looked at the man’s off-kilter smile and run back to her parents, ducking behind her mother again.  Mash firmly placed herself between the group and Lev, raising her shield as if expecting another attack.

“What kind of nonsense is this?” Olga Marie said.  “Professor Lev is part of Chaldea.  And he’s…”  She sniffled, rubbing her eyes as she felt tears well up.  “He’s still alive.”  She rushed forward.  “Lev I was so… I was so afraid.  I didn’t know what to do anymore.”

Lev’s slightly bland smile didn’t shift as the Director ran toward him.  “Olga Marie.  It must have been very hard on you.  I’m honestly surprised that you’re alive.”

Olga Marie felt like the weight was lifting off her shoulders.  She wasn’t left alone as the head of Chaldea anymore.  She hadn’t lost everyone.  “It was,” she said, her voice barely loud enough to carry.  “It really was.  But you’re here now, and you’ll help, right?  We’ll still manage just fine.”

“Considering I planted the bomb directly beneath your seat and all.”  Olga Marie stopped in place as Lev’s smile suddenly seemed far less comforting.

“Wh…what?  L…Lev, what are you talking about.”

Arturia growled and immediately raised her blade.  “You monster.  I don’t really know what’s going on here, but I recognize a betrayal when I see one.”

The Professor’s grin spread until it was borderline demonic.  “A betrayal?  Yes, I suppose you could call it that.  Though, the Director isn’t quite alive anymore anyway.  It’s hard to betray someone who’s already day.  Her body was destroyed just as I anticipated.  It seems that Trismegistus was able to salvage her consciousness and shift it to this place as a spirit.  How… unexpected.  Still, it seems that returning to Chaldea would result in her spirit completely disappearing.”

“Miss Marie is going to disappear?” Ritsuka asked, her eyes wide.

“This guy’s one twisted piece of scum,” Cu said pushing his hair back.  “What the hell is he playing at?”

“Oh, you’re still here, are you?  Yes, I suppose you would be since they haven’t deactivated this Singularity’s Grail yet.  I suppose I could clue you and the little Master in on what’s going on here.  It’s only sporting after all.”  He waved his hand and the whole world shifted so that the group was suddenly standing back in the main room of Chaldea.  It seemed to be entirely intact once again, but the glowing sphere in the center of the room was burning red rather than a peaceful blue.

Olga Marie felt her whole world collapsing around her.  “No.  No, it can’t be.”

“Oh, but it is.  This is the final result of my mission.  All signs of human life have vanished from this Earth.  You mortals truly are fools.  In the end, Chaldea’s mission amounts to nothing more than the final failure in mankind’s pitiful attempts to grasp at continued existence.”

Olga collapsed to her knees, no longer able to keep herself standing.  “No… No, this isn’t right. This isn’t my Chaldeas.  I haven’t failed.  I’m not dead!”  She gasped as she felt something tugging on her and her body began to be dragged forward.  “What?  Lev, what have you done?!”

“I did say that returning to Chaldea would mean your disappearance, didn’t I?” the demonic man said.  “I could have simply allowed you to fade away, but that seemed so cruel to have you just vanish like that.  So I thought that I would reunite you with your family’s legacy one last time.”

Olga Marie’s eyes widened and she grabbed for anything in vain.  “No.  No, Chaldeas is the space of a different territory.  Being pulled in would…”

“Be like being dragged into a black hole,” Lev agreed, his voice full of mirth.  “So please, enjoy your death for all eternity.”

“No, no please!  Please, I don’t want to die like this!  I don’t want to die like this.  I don’t want to die without accomplishing anything!  Not before someone appreciates my efforts.  Before anyone praised me.  Please!”

“The hell you will!”  Rin shot forward, one of her hands reaching out.

Lev just laughed.  “Even a Servant lacks the strength to prevent a soul that has already passed on from departing this world.  The best you can do is keep her from Chaldeas’s grasp until her spirit dissipates and she passes on it peace.  Such a boring struggle.”  He sighed and shook his head.

Rin gritted her teeth and for a moment it was like they were seeing double.  A second Rin appeared superimposed over the first, her hair a brilliant gold and her clothes a mix of deep crimson and jet black.  “Maybe not,” she said, her voice echoing like several people were talking.  “But we are not just a Servant.  We are Divine Spirits and we do not allow this.”  The blonde image of Rin surged forward, grabbing at Olga Marie’s hand.  The world seemed to freeze for a moment and Olga could feel something trying to enter her spirit.  With nothing left to lose, she opened herself up and let it in.  Everyone covered their eyes as a golden flash split the sky and when it cleared Olga Marie was no longer being dragged closer to the crimson sphere.  She was standing tall, with a deep red cape swirling around her and a dark top covering her body.  Her stark white hair now glowed radiant blonde and flowed down her back.

Lev looked utterly flabbergasted.  “Inconceivable!  You… you converted her soul into a Saint’s Graph in order to anchor its existence?  Impossible.  Such a feat is beyond any human’s magecraft.”

“Do you ever stop talking,” Rin said.  She raised her hand and fired a blast straight into his legs, literally cutting the man off at the knees.

“For a mortal, yes,” the new Olga agreed.  “But I am Erishkigal, the Queen of the Underworld.  All things within the domain of souls are mine to command.  And I will not allow this soul to depart before its time.”

“Wow, you’re being dramatic today sis,” Rin chirped, her voice changing tones for a moment before Rin’s scowl reappeared.

“Impossible, utterly impossible,” Lev growled, struggling to regain his feet and failing.  The world faded back into the rocky crater at the edge of Fuyuki City once again as his power faded.  “A child magus like that… she couldn’t possibly have summoned such a spirit.  A person with so much potential in both magecraft and Servant compatibility would never have been able to go unnoticed by us.”

“But she has and did,” Ereshkigal said, a golden spear manifesting in her hands.  “And now your plans have failed.  I sense the calamity within you.  So know that your brethren will also fail so long as we oppose you.  Now begone from this world”

“You cannot do this!  I am Flauros!  I am…!”  He was cut off as Ereshkigal kicked him against the side of the crater.

“You are a monster!  Can you not see the pain you caused this girl?  I can feel the heart that still beats within this vessel, and I can feel every unshed tear that she feels over the man she saw as a second father stabbing her in the back.  You have no right to exist in the world of men or gods.  Now begone!”  She twirled her spear and rammed it through Lev’s chest.  The man screamed, his body twisting and warping before he disappeared, dissolving into a cloud of shadows.

Ereshkigal nodded with satisfaction as she turned around, only to find everyone else staring at her with open mouthed amazement.  Save of Ritsuka who was hiding behind her father with wide eyes.  “Oh no!”  Eresh squeaked as she met the little girl’s eyes.  “I promise I’m not usually that scary!  I mean, I’m a death goddess, so I’m kind of scary, but I’m only scary to bad people.  You don’t have to be scared of me Ritsuka.”

Ritsuka carefully walked around EMIYA and looked Ereshkigal in the eyes.  “You only hurt the bad guys?”

Eresh nodded quickly and tried to pose heroically, driving her spear into the dirt and crossing her arms.  “That’s right, that’s what goddesses do.”

“And you saved Miss Marie?”

“She’s right here inside me,” Eresh said, putting a hand over her heart.  “I’ll let her out once we get back to Chaldea and its safe.”

Ritsuka looked at her speculatively for a few seconds then she nodded, seemingly satisfied.  Then she launched herself at Ereshkigal and threw her arms around her waist.  Eresh squawked with shock and failed her arms, trying to maintain her balance as she was assault by the ballistic child.  “Thankyouthankyouthankyou,” she blubbered.  “I didn’t want Miss Marie to disappear!”

Eresh looked up at her sister’s host with a pleading expression, but Rin just grinned and did nothing.  The rest of the Servants continued to stare for a moment then began to chuckle until the entire group was laughing.  “Man, I needed that after the day I’ve had,” Cu said, pushing his hair back.  “You guys are great.  Think I can come back with you?  I think I can hitch a ride with the contract.”

EMIYA gave a long suffering sigh.  “If Ritsuka wants to bring you along.  Oh, and is Saber coming with us as well?”

“I think she should be fine,” Roman said seemingly having recovered.  “Her Saint’s Graph is stable and she’s contracted to Ritsuka, just like the rest of you.  She should survive past the Singularity just fine.”

“Then of course I will be accompanying you,” Saber said, sheathing her blade.  “You always did get into trouble whenever I left you alone for too long.  I can’t very well let you try to save the world without my help.”

“Saber Mama is coming back with us too!” Ritsuka immediately abandoned the goddess and jumped on Arturia, dragging yet another Servant into one of her hugs.

“That… that could have ended worse,” Roman said with a heavy sigh.  “Grab the Holy Grail and I’ll prepare to reyshift the entire group home.  Hopefully things here will be a bit more stable once you’re all back.  And I have a chance to make sure everyone is in top shape after that ordeal.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Well, you seem to be in pretty much perfect health,” Roman said, tapping away on his tablet.  “I admit, it’s almost easier to monitor a Saint’s Graph with our equipment here than it is to give a regular person an in-depth exam.”  Olga Marie gave him a flat stare.  She hadn’t even wanted to come back out yet, but Ritsuka had refused to let go until she came out to tell her that she was okay.  She was not in any way good at dealing with children.  “And you’ll never have to worry about wrinkles now that we have you hooked up to Chaldea’s magical energy supply.”

Her stare turned into an outright glare.  “I don’t have time to care about that,” Olga said, shrugging his hand off her shoulder.  “Status report.”

Roman rubbed the back of his head and sighed.  “Well, I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that we didn’t actually lose too many of the Masters.  Most of them are still alive.”  Olga immediately perked up a little.  Maybe their efforts weren’t a complete wash out after all.  “But we had to stabilize most of them with our cryogenic systems.  Until we restore the rest of the world and can get them to a dedicated medical facility, I can’t do much more than that.  Additionally, we lost most of the command staff and the technicians working on the reyshift systems.  Da Vinci has taken over operations for now so we’re getting back on track.”

And there was the other shoe.  “I see.  So we really are just left with Ritsuka and her… family.”

Roman smiled.  “That’s not so bad.  We’ve gotten them settled into a suite and they seem to be taking things rather well, all things considered.  Mrs. Tohsaka has been working with the research team to try to track the next anomaly and Mr. Emiya has apparently taken over the kitchens.  Rits-chan was headed there with King Arturia last time I checked.”

“Then I’ll go over the rest on my own.”  Olga stood abruptly and pushed past the doctor.  “Thank you for your hard work Dr. Romani.”

“Wait just a moment,” Roman said, reaching one hand out toward her.  “Olga… I’m sorry.”

The director froze in place.  “You have nothing to apologize for,” she said, not turning to meet his gaze.  “You’ve performed your duties perfectly adequately considering the circumstances.”

“I meant…”  Roman sighed again and hung his head.  “I’m sorry about Lev.  I’m the only other person who’s been here as long as he had.  I should have noticed something was wrong before now.”

Olga Marie’s teeth ground together and she forced herself to stay calm.  “He was lying to everyone.  Especially…”  The ‘me’ died on her lips and she clenched her fists.  It would have been so easy to just smash something.  Her punches were more damaging that most simple combat spells now.

“Miss Marie?”  She jerked her head up and her eyes flew open to see Ritsuka’s head poking around the doorframe of the infirmary.  “Are you feeling better now?”

Olga shook her head and quickly wiped her eyes to make sure they were dry.  “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?  As the head of Chaldea, it’s my responsibility to keep a level head at all times.”

Ritsuka smiled brightly and skipped into the room.  “Papa made us lunch,” she said, holding up a covered plate.  “Wanna eat with us before you go back to work?  It’s a Japanese style omelet with rice,” the child continued.  “I did the writing on it myself.”

Olga Marie’s resolve lasted for a few seconds before she pulled the cover off the plate to take a peek.  The food was still steaming slightly and smelled better than anything the kitchens usually put together.  She took a second to decipher the slightly messy Japanese text written on the eggs in ketchup.

_Feel better soon Auntie Marie!_

She spent a few more seconds trying to find words.  “A… Auntie Marie?”

Ritsuka nodded firmly.  “Mama and Ishtar are the same person now.  And you and Eresh are the same person now.  And Ishtar and Eresh are sisters.  That makes you my auntie now!”

Olga gaped like a fish for a moment, then hurried wiped her eyes again.  That Archer must have put some strange spices in the food for it to make her eyes water.  She’d have to yell at him about messing around too much later.  “That’s… I’ll eat it in the control room while I’m working.  Thank you Ritsuka.”  She rushed out of the room before the girl could respond.

Roman smiled and patted Ritsuka on the head.  “I think she liked it,” he said with a little chuckle.

“Mama Sakura was adopted by bad people,” Ritsuka said, her smile vanishing instantly and replaced with a surprisingly somber frown.  “Papa always said that having us as family helped make things better for her.  I wanted Miss Marie to be better too.  So I made her my Auntie.”

Roman looked down at her curiously.  “You’re a good girl Ritsuka.  I think your papa would be very happy.”

Ritsuka nodded.  “Papa likes to help people.  Mama always says he tries too hard, but I think it’s nice.”

Roman looked distant for a moment.  “I remember my father.  He tried to help people too, but he always had far too much to do.  He had a lot of problems, but he always tried his best for everyone’s sake.”  He knelt down in front of her and their eyes met for a moment.  “I think you’ll do just fine.  Why don’t you run along and find Mash?  She can give you a tour of the rest of the facilities while everyone is getting things back in order.”

The ten year old nodded and ran off, leaving the doctor to his work.

\------------------------------

Rin was examining the SHEBA system.  If it really had been designed entirely by the Lev person, it was the most likely thing to have been sabotaged, and they needed it to continue tracking the Singularities.  She groaned as hit another bug.  Some of the functions reminded her of her work viewing worlds through the Kaleidoscope’s refraction, but other parts were a complete mystery to her.  At least they had some more reasonable clothes for her to change into.  She had missed wearing real pants.

“Miss… Tohsaka?  Ishtar?”  Rin turned to see one of the few remaining techs behind her.

“Tohsaka is fine.  Or Rin if you must.  Did you need something?”

The man jumped a little.  She’d have thought that they’d be more used to having Heroic Spirits around than this.  “Ah, yes.  We’ve found Professor Lainur’s research notes.  I believe the original design documents for SHEBA are in here.”

Rin took the papers from the man and glanced over them once.  “Hopefully this gives us what we need to re-tune the blasted thing.  Is that all?”

“I think so ma’am.  I’m just dropping things off for Da Vinci before I get back to work.”

“Thank you for your hard work,” Rin said absently as the technician ran off.  It was like working at the Clock Tower again, with skittish apprentices running around for whatever professor had given them chores.  She had actually missed it a little bit.  But trap the Department of Archeology into a pocket dimension one time and you were apparently ‘kindly requested’ to set up your workshop someplace else.  Pricks.

She refilled took a sip from her tea and sat down at the desk she’d managed to salvage to go over the notes.  At least EMIYA was still just as good of a cook as ever.  She just hoped that the others eventually made it along as well.  She didn’t want to consider what would happen if they were stuck between realities when the Human Order collapsed.  She just had to hope that they managed to anchor themselves to something and pull through.  At the very least Rider should have been fine.

“Hi mama.”  Rin looked up from the papers as Ritsuka and Mash walked into the room.

“Hello there sweetie,” Rin replied with a smile.  She pulled Ritsuka up into her lap.  “What have you and Mash been doing?”

“Mash has been showing me around,” Ritsuka said, tapping her heels against Rin’s legs as she swung her legs back and forth.  She leaned up a little.  “She’s super nice,” she stage whispered, letting Mash hear what she was saying.

Mash blushed furiously.  “I’m just helping senpai get acquainted with the facilities,” she said quickly.

Ritsuka giggled.  “I’m a senpai now!” she said proudly.

Rin laughed and Mash’s blush deepened.  “I know it’s strange,” the Demi-Servant said quickly.  “But Ritsuka is so responsible and she’s my Master so it just… felt right.”

Rin just shook her head.  “You remember that a senpai has to help her kouhai too,” she chided her daughter.  “So don’t make Mash do all of the work.”

“I won’t mama,” Ritsuka promised.  “We’re a team now.  We’ll work together to take care of anything we have to.”

Rin smiled proudly.  “That’s my girl.  Now, how about you tell me what you favorite part of the tour was so far.”

The little red-head had to stop and think for a minute.  “Da Vinci showed me her workshop.  It looks so much different than yours mama.  There were lots of paintings and weird machines and stuff, but no gems or smelly potions or anything.  There were still lots of books though.”

Rin chuckled.  “Any magus with half a brain has plenty of books,” she said.

“Like what you’re reading?” Ritsuka asked, squirming forward to look at the pages on the desk.

“Actually yes,” Rin said.  “I’m trying to fine tune one of the systems so we can find where to go next to fix whatever that Lev character and whoever he’s working for did.”

“Oh, where are we going next mama?”

“It’s more a question of when than where,” Rin admitted.  “We have the location locked in France but we’re having trouble correlating with the time period.  Once Da Vinci can help me, I think we’ll have it solved no problem.”

Ritsuka’s eyes widened.  “We haven’t been back to Europe since the last time you and Mr. Zelrecht were visiting the Association and I’ve never been to France!  Will we all be going?”

“That depends on if the reyshift is full repaired,” Rin said.  “But that’s not going to happen if I don’t get back to work.  Finish your tour and I’ll make sure to take a break for dinner with you, alright?”

“Alright mama.  Good luck.”  Ritsuka hopped down and grabbed Mash’s hand, dragging her off to explore another part of the facility.


	4. Chapter 4

Olga Marie had her sleeves rolled up as the remains of Chaldea’s command staff gathered in the briefing room.  “Is everyone here?”

“Ritsuka should be along in a minute,” EMIYA said.  He leaned back and folded his arms, the front legs of his chair lifting slightly off the ground.

Cu chuckled and just leaned against a wall, not bothering to take a chair.  “You finally got something for us?”

The doors to the room slid open and Ritsuka and Mash hurried in.  “I’m here!” the red-head said, quickly jumping up into her seat.

“Honey, what are you carrying?” Rin asked, her voice disturbingly strained.

Olga glanced at the little fluffy ball in Ritsuka’s arms.  Then a sudden feeling of supernatural dread crashed down on her and she could feel Ereshkigal beating at her consciousness to defend herself.

“Fou!” the little animal barked.

Ritsuka giggled and hugged the little animal.  “This is Fou.  He’s Mash’s friend.”

Olga forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths.  “He’s just something they found wandering around outside the facility,” she said, trying to sound dismissive.  “Don’t worry about him.  We have more important things to focus on.”  She turned around and quickly activated the display above her.  “Thanks to the hard work of Da Vinci and Miss Tohsaka, we’ve finally located the temporal disturbance in 1431, France, during the later years of the Hundred Years War.”

Arturia’s eyes narrowed.  “The time of Joan of Arc and Henry VI,” she said thoughtfully.  “A particularly turbulent time for both Britain and France.”

Olga nodded.  “Though this will be Chaldea’s first official _intentional_ mission, it likely won’t be an easy one.  We’re still recovering from the… attack by our enemy’s agent and with the rest of the world in flux, we have only what resources we can salvage from Singularities to resupply.  But we cannot afford to stop now.  Otherwise humanity will never see another year.”

There was a general chorus of nods and murmured agreement.  “We need to arrange for an away team,” Rin added, joining in the conversation.  “Ritsuka will have to be included to provide an anchoring point for the Servants we deploy.  Otherwise, we can adjust things to fit the situation.”

“I volunteer,” Cu said, quickly raising his hand.  “I can only sit around here for so long before I start to go crazy.”

“I recommend allowing me to go as well,” Mash said.  “I’m best suited to keep senpai safe while she’s out in the Singularity.”

Olga raised a hand before anyone else could interrupt.  “Until we know the full situation, I believe that sending all of our available personnel is for the best.  Dr. Roman, Da Vinci, and I will remain here to run monitor the shift.  If anyone is injured or we require skills not available to one of our operatives, the Fate system is prepared to summon more support.”  Ritsuka raised her hand.  Olga Marie fought the urge to sigh, silently reminding herself that she was dealing with a child.  “Yes?”

“Are we gonna summon more Servants to help?” the red-head said with pleading puppy-dog eyes.

Olga considered the question for a moment.  “Possibly.  The Fate system is designed to call up more Servants as the need arises.  You can try to call more of your… family once you’ve established a summoning circle within the Singularity.”

Ritsuka smiled and hopped to her feet.  “Let’s go!”  She ran off toward the Fate chamber, clutching her new friend so tight that they could hear Fou’s pleading cries until the doors slid shut again.

“I’ll go prepare the reyshift pods,” Dr. Roman said, quickly picking up his tablet and hurrying after the girl.  “We’ll be ready to go within the hour.”

\------------------------------

Ritsuka felt slightly dizzy as the reyshift’s swirling vortex faded away and she found herself standing on top of a grassy hill.  “Wow.”

Rin groaned and cracked her neck.  “Well, that was certainly a trip.  I thought stepping through the Kaleidoscope was a headache.”

“We probably would have landed upside-down in a river if you’d been running the machine,” EMIYA deadpanned as he walked to the edge of the hilltop and looked out to the horizon.  “But I think it landed us in the middle of nowhere.  There’s something in the distance though.  Maybe a village.”

“Fou!”

Rin yelped and nearly jumped out of her skin as the small rabbit… dog… thing scampered around her daughter’s legs.  “Honey, why is Fou with you?”

Ritsuka pouted and picked the small fluffy animal up.  “He was lonely staying back at Chaldea by himself.  So I brought him in the pod with me.”  She hugged the beast to her chest and the animal make a happy little squeak and rubbed against her neck.

Rin sighed in exasperation.  “Just keep him out of trouble.  Roman, what do you have on sensors?”

“Ah, well, I can detect Servants, but they’re mostly too far off to locate exactly.  I’ll work on that.  There’s also something… odd that seems to be spread over the whole Singularity.  Do you see anything strange?  Magical distortions or something?”

“I think I’ve spotted the anomaly doctor,” Mash said.  Then she just pointed at the sky.

They looked up almost as one.  “Oh boy,” Cu muttered.  “That’s never a good sign.”

“It’s so big!” Ritsuka said.  “And it’s glowing!”

“What’s glowing?” Roman asked.  “I can’t see it on my end.”

“There’s some sort of golden ring in the sky,” Rin explained.  “I’m guessing it has to do with the Singularity.  This sort of phenomenon would have been recorded in historical texts if it was native to the time period.”

“I concur,” the doctor said with a sigh.  “I’ll get to work identifying that.  You just focus on setting up a connection point so we can stay in contact.”

“We’ll begin the investigation immediately,” Mash said.  “We’ll be counting on your support Dr. Roman.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Look alive, people,” EMIYA called out.  “We can marvel at the sky later.  There’s a patrol of soldiers coming towards us.  Don’t ask me who they are though.  I was never great at history.”

“It looks like a French patrol to me,” Mash said as she looked out at the approaching group.  “Should we say hello?”

“Who speaks the best French?” Rin asked, turning to the rest of the group.

Mash looked at her curiously.  “The summoning system should provide basic language understanding…”  She frowned and cocked her head.  “Maybe your abnormal Saint’s Graph means you only speak your native languages instead of having a general modern lexicon.”

Rin shrugged.  “Maybe.  We can figure it out later.  Just go down there and greet our guests, okay?”

Mash jumped to attention.  “Yes ma’am.”  She hurried down the hill, trying her best not to slide on the grass.  “Bonjour!” she called loudly and the patrol turned to see her coming.

“Une fille?”  The lead soldier stepped forward.  “Que faites-vous ici habillé pour la batallie?”

Mash rubbed the back of her head.  “Mis amis et moi souhaitons aider le peuple de France.”

The lead soldier grumbled for a moment and whispers broke out among his men.  “Nous ne sommes pas en mesure de refuser de l’aide.”

Mash’s face immediately lit up.  “Je vous remercie.  Nous ferons de notre mieux.  Oh, mais mes amis parlent surtout anglais.”

The sergeant grumbled again.  “Fine,” he said in slightly accented English.  “At this point I don’t even know if it matters anymore.”

Mash turned on her heel and called up the hill.  “He says you can come down!”

Ritsuka rushed down the hill ahead of the group, kicking up grass and dirt as she skidded the last few feet down the side.  “Wow, so these guys are real soldiers?  They look kinda different from what I was expecting.”

“Every kind of soldier looks a little different,” Mash explained.  “These men are…”  She was interrupted by an ear-piercing scream from one of the soldiers.  They both spun around to see all of the men backing away.  Several were going for their weapons while the rest looked like they were about to turn tail and run.

“The witch!” one of the men cried out as he desperately tried to draw his sword with trembling hands.  “It’s a trap!  The witch is here to feast on our souls!”  Everyone looked around in confusion for a second before they realized that the man was pointing the shaking tip of his sword at one person in particular.

“Me?” Arturia said, sounding baffled.  “Surely you jest.  I am no sorcerer.”

“That’s just Mama Saber,” Ritsuka said with a pout.  “She’s not a mage and she wouldn’t eat anyone.”

“Sh… she must have enchanted these people,” one of the soldiers said, leveling a pike.  “It’s some kind of trick.”

“Hold your horses!” the sergeant shouted.  “The witch has never spared anyone before, be they man or woman or child.  I don’t see any reason for her to start tricks now when her horde can kill us just fine on its own.”

“Well, at least the boss man has his head on straight,” Cu said, absently twirling his staff and settling it over his shoulder.  “Kinda want to know what the deal with this witch is though.”

“The resemblance is uncanny,” the sergeant admitted as the group finally got closer and he got a good look at Arturia.  His men still seemed ready to either bolt or attack at a moment’s notice.  “You could be her sister.”

Saber looked distinctly uncomfortable.  “My name is Arturia Pendragon.  And I have a sister,” she said after a moment.  “Who some might call a witch.  But she should be long dead.”

“I’m not sure we’re talking about the same person, but I’d believe it if she was.”  The soldiers finally seemed to relax a little bit as it became increasingly clear that Arturia wasn’t about to burst out in maniacal laughter and tear them limb from limb.  “We were patrolling for any of her monsters, but I think it might be best if we give you an escort to the village.”  He wheeled around and waved his hand in the air.  “Alright men!  Let’s act like soldiers for once.  Back in formation!”

The soldiers quickly fell into an escort formation, surrounding the group to cover them from all sides as they started the walk back to the village.  “Hey,” Roman’s voice murmured in their collective ears.  “Do you really think that it could be your sister?”

Arturia huffed.  “Possibly,” she admitted.  “I don’t recall Morgan having any notable reason to destroy France, but there’s very little I would put past her.  She’s as ruthless as she is vicious.”

“Morgan le Fey,” Rin muttered.  “We might have really stepped in it this time.”

The walk to the village was thankfully short, but Arturia was still getting annoyed with the constant nervous looks from the soldiers by the time they arrived.  The townsfolk all hurried about the dirt streets, what few of them there were, and back to their homes again, eager to stay out of sight.  “They’re all terrified,” EMIYA said softly.  His fists clenched and he scowled.  “This is wrong.”

“The outlying towns are still safe for now,” the sergeant said.  “But the witch’s army keeps spreading.  France will all be burned to a cinder if this keeps up.”

Ritsuka frowned, her little hands shaking slightly.  “We’ll stop her though.  We’ll stop her and save everyone.”  Her hands clenched into fists and her eyes lit up with determination.

EMIYA stared at her for a second.  Then he broke out laughing.  “You really are his daughter.”  He shook his head and tried to stifle his chuckles.  “Don’t get in over your head with promises you can’t keep.”  He knelt down and patted her on the head.  “But we’ll save as many of them as we can anyway.”

Ritsuka kept frowning for a minute then nodded.  “Papa says stuff like that too.”

EMIYA chuckled.  “Maybe the idiot learned something over the years after all.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Roman cut in, his image appearing in the air.  “But I have some good news.  There’s a leyline running right under the village.  You should be able to establish a connection point and a summoning circle so we can get this mission started properly.”

“That’s excellent news,” Mash agreed.  “Where’s the best point to set up camp?”

Roman fiddled around with something they couldn’t see.  “I think… looks like a storehouse or something like that near the edge of town.  That should work out fine.”

The storehouse was mostly unused.  According to one of the villagers who’d been willing to spend a few moments talking to the odd group of foreigners, it was mostly used to store grain during the harvest, but that was months away.  Mash quickly set up a summoning circle on the dirt floor, momentarily filling the wooden room with light.  “Should I try to summon someone now?” Ritsuka asked, looking up at Rin.

Before the raven-haired mother could answer, there was a scream from outside and an ear-piercing roar split the air.  “Sounds like later.  I bet that’s our witch’s monsters.”

The small red-head’s eyes hardened.  “Go get ‘em.”

“You heard the little Master,” Cu said, spinning his staff.  “Let’s go kick some… butt.”


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Ritsuka saw where the soldiers.  The soldiers desperately tried to martial themselves into a defensive formation at edge of the village while shambling men in tattered armor rushed them in a wave of metal and putrefied flesh.  Then another roar tore through the air and a shadow fell over the defenders as half a dozen massive shapes swooped overhead.  “No way,” she breathed, her voice somewhere between awe and fear.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me,” Rin muttered, her bow materializing next to her.

“Dr… dragons?”  The disbelief was obvious in Roman’s voice.  “They should have been extinct ages ago!  The enemy must have summoned them somehow.”

EMIYA clicked his tongue and materialized his bow instead of his swords.  “This might not be the craziest thing I ever had to kill, but it’s up there.”  A strange spiraling black arrow appeared in a flicker of blue light and he took aim at one of the dragons as it swooped down toward the village.  “Hrunting!”  The projectile tore through the air, perfectly tracking the dragon and tearing across its body, leaving a bloody gash.  The beast roared in pain and broke off its attack to dive down toward the Chaldea team.  “Really?” the Archer muttered as he took a few moments to prepare another arrow.

“Stop right there.”  Mash jumped forward, bringing her shield up and bracing herself as the dragon’s claws crashed against her weapon.  Her knees buckled momentarily under the impact then she gritted her teeth and pushed.  “You won’t get senpai!”  She swung out, bashing the dragon with the shield and forcing it back.  Three more flashes shot over her shoulders as Rin and EMIYA blasted the dragon again and again until it fell from the air and stopped moving.

“Those things are tougher than they look,” EMIYA grumbled.  “And they look tough enough already.”  Another scream pierced the air as the dragons swooped over the village, their claws ripping at both buildings and people and the gale force of their wings throwing anyone who got too close off their feet.  One of the dragons pulled back its head and fire poured from its jaws, igniting the thatch roof of one of the houses.  “Shit.”

“Mama, papa, you have to work together to take them down!” Ritsuka interrupted.  “Mash can keep you safe while you shoot them down.”

“Add me to that list too,” Cu said, his hands already glowing with runic magic.  “If anyone knows how to deal with magic fire, it’s me.”

“Then that leaves the frontlines to me,” Arturia said, drawing her sword with a flourish.

Ritsuka nodded firmly.  “Try to keep as many people safe as you can.”

Arturia nodded and patted her on the head.  “Fear not.  This is hardly my first time leading men into battle.  And revenants are little threat to me.”

“Stay out of the line of fire,” Rin said firmly.  “I mean it.  Hide inside or stay glued to Mash.”

Ritsuka did her best not to roll her eyes.  “I know how to stay out of trouble.”

EMIYA’s lips twitched up into a smile.  “Rin teaching someone to stay out of trouble…”

The raven-haired magus rounded on him and fixed a glare on the red Archer.  “Not the time.  We have dragons to kill.”  With that, Rin kicked off of the ground and soared into the air, Ishtar’s power carrying her aloft as she took aim and fired a rain of golden darts that turned one of the wyverns into Swiss cheese.  Just then, three more appeared over the horizon, swooping down toward their new pray.

“Yes, yes we do.”  EMIYA sighed as he prepared another monster slaying arrow and took aim at one of the beasts while Mash and Cu rushed to try to save the village before it was razed to the ground.

\------------------------------

The sergeant knew when he was fighting a losing battle.  France had been fighting losing battles for ages before the Saint had come along and rallied them.  The things coming at them fought like men, but they weren’t.  They fought like men, and moved like men, but they didn’t react to pain.  They didn’t route when his men pushed them back.  And they just kept coming.  Even if they were clumsy and slow, eventually they were going to wear his small group down.  Maybe they could hold on long enough for the civilians to at least make their escape.  “Hold fast men!” he bellowed out over the melee.  “We have to hold out until the villagers can evacuate!”

“Take heart, it’s not yet your time.”  There was a flash of blue and then the entire row of warriors in front of him crumpled like paper.  “These creatures seek only mindless destruction.  They are no match for true warriors.  Reform your defensive line and we will do more than hold them.  We will send them back to their master in pieces.”

The commander could do little more than nod dumbly as the armored woman knocked the creatures back single-handed.  “Y… Yes ma’am!”  He didn’t think about disobeying, he simply acted.  “Rally to the banner!” he roared.  “Spears in front!  Keep them at a distance!”

Arturia nodded once as the French soldiers rallied.  Then she dove into the melee, seemingly unarmed, but moving so quickly that his eyes could barely follow her.  Then he saw the way the air seemed to shimmer in her hands and he realized that she wasn’t so unarmed after all.  Her invisible blade cut through armor like it wasn’t even there, sending body after body to the ground.  “Begone!” she roared, pointing her blade ahead of her.  “Strike Air!”  The air in front of her exploded, sending a spiraling wave of wind through her enemies and clearing the area for the French soldiers to surge forward again and press the undead back.

The sergeant couldn’t help stopping and staring at the blade now revealed in her hand.  It shimmered with golden light and just looking at it seemed to raise his spirits in a way he hadn’t felt since the execution.  “Who… who are you?”

The knight in blue half turned away from the battle as the French soldiers held the line.  “I am Arturia Pendragon, the King of Knights.  And I am your ally for as long as your people have need of me.”  Then she turned back to the fighting and tore into the monsters yet again.  The sergeant swallowed heavily as he considered just what that sword might be.

“Dragon!  Dragon coming in!”  He snapped back to reality as he looked up to see one of the winged beasts diving straight for him, claws outstretched and jaws wide and slavering.  He stumbled back, losing his footing as he desperately tried to avoid the monster.  He screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the biting pain of the blade-like claws in his flesh.  But it never came.

“Away monster!”  A golden flash nearly blinded him and the dragon recoiled, its claws raking uselessly against the figure in front of him.  “There will be no more death here today.”  For a moment, he thought that Arturia had stepped in to save him, but then he realized that the figure was dressed in a blue so deep it was almost black and carrying a shockingly familiar banner.  “Are you well sergeant?  The battle isn’t won yet?”  Her hand reached down to help him to his feet.  His mouth dropped open as he recognized the eyes of a dead woman.

“Yes,” he answered on impulse.  It was impossible.  The Saint was gone.  All that was left was the mocking shadow of a witch.  “You’re dead.”

The woman smiled, but it seemed sad more than anything else.  “I’m afraid I am.  But my duty to France is not yet done.”  The officer’s mind recoiled from that as he looked past her to Arturia and the implications hit him.  “Please stay down.  It’s coming around for another pass.”

The dragon roared and dived down for the pair again.  Only for its head to go flying as Arturia’s golden blade slashed through its exposed neck.  For a moment, the two women just stopped and stared at each other.  “Well, this is odd,” the saint said.

“This explains so much,” Arturia muttered.  “We must speak after the battle.”

“Agreed,” Jeanne said, spinning her standard.  “But first these things need to go.”

\------------------------------

Considering they were fighting a horde of god damned dragons, Rin thought things were going pretty well.  She floated in her vantage point above the battle bracing her massive bow to fire again.  It was oddly liberating to be able to fly and see everything from above.  Not that she’d ever admit that out loud of course.  EMIYA’s arrows seemed effective enough at keeping the beasts back, but it took several shots to injure one enough to take it out of the fight.  At least Cu and Mash were keeping up.  She saw the brilliant green flash as Mash deployed her barrier and absorbed a burst of dragon fire.

_“Mama!”_

Rin’s arm jerked as her daughter’s panicked cry rang in her head, sending her next shot very wide.  _“Ritsuka, what’s wrong?”_

_“There are more dragons coming toward the barn.”_

Rin spun around to see two more wyverns diving through the air towards the building.  She cursed and raised her hand, focusing her mana into the bow and firing a massive arrow of blue light.  It clipped the first dragon, causing it to dip toward the ground, but failing to knock it from the sky.  “Are you kidding me?”

 _“It’s hard to aim with your mind if you’re panicking,”_ Ishtar’s voice whispered in the back of her head.  _“Focus!”_

Rin scowled.  _“I don’t need to hear that from you!”_   She focused on the telepathic link.  _“Ritsuka!  Get away from there now!”_

_“I’m okay Mama.  I have an idea!”_

Rin felt dread settle into her chest.  She knew that tone.  It was the tone that Shirou used when he was about to do something stupid.  Apparently it was hereditary.  She dived for the building, raining weaker shots down on the dragons to slow their approach.  But before she could reach the building, she felt a massive surge of magic and saw light blasting out of the cracked door of the barn.  “Oh great…”  She just hoped her daughter didn’t end up summoning some out of control Berserker who ended up causing more harm than good.

As if the universe was taunting her, the front doors of the building were smashed open in one quick movement and two figures shot out, moving so fast they were almost a blur, even to her eyes.  “I haven’t hunted dragons in ages.”  The first dragon stopped dead as a blood red spear went through its mouth and up into its head, instantly ending its life.  “They’re still ugly though.”

“If these are Western dragons, I believe I’ll stick to my own culture.”  There was a flash as a brilliant, long-bladed katana sliced through the air and separated the other beast’s wing from its back.  The dragon roared in pain as it tumbled from the sky, leaving a long furrow in the ground before it stopped moving.  “These seem to be little more than animals.”

The blue Lancer grinned as he braced his spear across his shoulders.  “Maybe, but they put up a hell of a fight.  I think the only thing worse might be chimeras.  Those suck.”

The purple clad samurai just huffed and flicked the blood off of his blade.  “If it flies, I can cut it from the sky.  That’s all there is to it.”

“You know, I’m kind of regretting that we never got to face off now.  You’re a cocky son of a bitch, but I’d spar with someone who can cut a dragon down any day.”

Rin groaned and glanced back at the battle.  The dragon swarm seemed to have finally broken and Arturia was clearing the last of the foot soldiers with a squad of very eager Frenchmen.  Leaving the others to clean up, she descended toward the ground.  “It’s you.  Again.”

Cu Chulainn looked up and grinned.  “Wow.  You know, you might be the last person I expected to see here.”  Then he stopped for a second.  “Or second to last.  Maybe third.  It depends.  So, how’s it going with the kid?  He still holding up?”

Rin’s cheeks rapidly went through several shades of red.  “That is none of your business.  But we’re married, if you must know.”

Cu shrugged.  “I’m not surprised in the slightest.  He was head over heels for you.”  Then his eyes widened slightly and he turned to look at the red-head now poking her head out from around the corner of the shattered door.  “Wait is she…”  A giant grin spread across the spearman’s face.

“Mama!  I summoned Uncle Cu again,” Ritsuka called out.  “And a samurai!”

“Assassin class, Sasaki Kojiro,” he said helpfully.  “But I think you already knew that.”

Rin sighed.  “Yes, I remember you alright.  I still don’t know how you’re not a Saber.”

The Assassin gave a half-hearted chuckle.  “I’m perfectly content as I am.  I am little more than a sword for my Master’s use after all.”

Ritsuka looked at him with wide eyes.  “You’re so cool,” she said.  “I thought Assassins were supposed to be sneaky, but that was amazing!”

Sasaki’s chuckle was warmer the second time.  “I’ll do my best to continue to live up to your expectations Master.”

“Senpai!”  The whole group turned to see the rest of their team hurrying toward them.  Mash rushed over to Ritsuka, quickly looking over the younger girl for injuries.  “Are you alright?  I’m so sorry.  I should have stayed with you.”

“It’s okay,” Ritsuka said brightly.  “Those other people needed your help too.  And Uncle Cu showed up to help me anyway.”

Everyone turned to see the two Cus looking at each other.  “Me with a spear,” the Caster said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.  “Some guys get all the luck.”

“Me without a spear,” the Lancer said, sounding more baffled than anything else.  “How the heck did that happen?”

“Druids and rune magic,” the Caster said with a sigh.

Lancer Cu winced.  “Ouch.  I do not envy you.  Though I guess Master drilling all those runes into our heads was good for something.”

“Now there are two of them,” EMIYA muttered.  “I’m being punished for something.”

Ritsuka frowned.  “There are two of Mama Saber now too.”

Everyone fell silent and turned toward the two blondes.  “Greetings,” the newcomer said.  “I’m Jeanne d’Arc.  I think we need to talk.”


	6. Chapter 6

There was silence in the Chaldea team’s makeshift camp.  “So there’s a second Jeanne d’Arc,” Rin said, drumming her fingers against her own biceps.  “And she’s destroying France to get revenge for her execution.”  The magus turned Servant groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose.  “I suppose it could be worse, but I’m not quite sure how.”

“The Holy Grail could be possessed again,” EMIYA said with a rather insincere smile on his face.

Rin groaned.  “There is that at least.  But it’s still in the hands of a lunatic.”

“Let’s not forget that she’s probably got her own horde of Servants to back her up,” CasCu added.

The other Cu chuckled.  “It’s not like we haven’t handled impossible odds before.  Remember that time with the clan?”

CasCu groaned.  “Yeah, I remember that one.  I don’t care how crazy this corrupted Joan is, she can’t be as bad as _that_ woman.”

“We’ll handle it in the morning,” Rin said with a sigh.  “For now, Ritsuka needs rest. Maintaining a link to this many Servants at once is stressful, especially on someone who hasn’t completely developed their magical abilities yet.”  The small red-head sat off to the side, watching the conversation in silence.  “Are you okay, honey?”

Ritsuka pursed her lips and frowned.  “There are _three_ Mama Sabers.  And one of them is evil again.”

There was a slight twitch from the blonde King of Knights.  “That is slightly disconcerting,” Arturia admitted after a moment.  “The similarity in our appearances is rather unusual.”

Jeanne just shrugged helplessly.  “I’m afraid I don’t know what to say.  Perhaps we’re very, very distantly related.”

“It’s been centuries since my time.”  Arturia closed her eyes, clearly deep in thought.  “It could be possible.  I had a fair number of relatives, many of whom had children who survived my reign.”

Ritsuka hardly looked satisfied with that answer, but a yawn cut her off before she could press the issue.  Mash hurried over, carrying a pack with a rolled up sleeping back on top.  “I have your camping supplies here, senpai.  We’ll figure out more in the morning.”  She unrolled the blankets and spread them out on the ground, letting the younger girl lay down comfortably.  Ritsuka grumbled a little, but curled up on the blanket.

Both Cus sighed.  “It’s going to be a long night.”

“I’ll watch for danger, if no one else wishes to do so,” Sasaki said, getting to his feet.  “The night sky is always so peaceful to be under.”

“Do you practice those lines, or do they just come naturally?” Cu asked.

The samurai just laughed.  “I think you develop them naturally after days training in the middle of nowhere.  Where do you think all the old masters get their wisdom from?”

\------------------------------

“Are we there yet?”

EMIYA grinned as Rin winced.  “Not yet,” she said with a tired huff.

“My apologies,” Jeanne said with a bowed head.  “My knowledge of this timeline is still somewhat lacking and my ability to locate Servants is limited.  We should get there in due time.”

“It’s fine,” Rin interrupted.  “Ritsuka just needs to learn a little patience.”  She looked down at her daughter with a pointed stare and Ritsuka huffed and muttered an apology under her breath.

“I don’t think you’re going to have to wait long!” Roman’s image suddenly appeared in mid-air.  “I’m detecting one… two… five Servants just ahead of your position, along with a strong magical signature.”

EMIYA jumped up onto the low branches of a nearby tree and looked into the distance.  “That is a lot of dragons at the next village.  Including one really big one.  I’m guessing that’s our enemy.”

“Everyone ready for a fight,” Rin called out, falling back and manifesting her bow.

“Wanna have a little fun?” Cu asked as his spear appeared in a flicker of red light.

Sasaki’s blade flicked through the air, testing the heft of the blade.  “What were you thinking?”

The Lancer’s grin was outright savage.  “Let’s see who takes down more of the big lizards.”

The Assassin’s lips twitched up very slightly.  “What could be a better test of my blade’s capabilities?  Just don’t be disappointed if you lose.”  Cu’s grin just widened and he slipped into a low, wide stance, his spear at the ready.

EMIYA raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun.  “They’re not taking attack positions yet, so I don’t think they’ve seen us yet.  Want me to make the first shot?”

“Not yet Papa,” Ritsuka said as she ducked behind Mash’s shield.

Jeanne nodded.  “If it’s not too much trouble, I would agree,” she said.  “This other me… I feel the need to meet her.  This darkness… I want to see it with my own eyes.”

“That is a terrible idea,” EMIYA said bluntly, his fingers flexing and ready to summon forth one of his weapons.

Ritsuka looked up at him.  “Please.  Miss Jeanne needs this.”  The red Archer sighed but just nodded, not taking his eyes off the burning ruin ahead of them.

“No one let your guard down,” Rin said as the group advanced toward the pillar of smoke rising from the town.

“If they hadn’t seen us before, they definitely have now.”  EMIYA’s bow flickered into existence and he fell back a few paces, taking a positon in front of Rin and behind Mash.  “This is going to be fun…”

A roar shook the air and the dragons swooped overhead, sweeping back and forth and circling the group to keep them closed in.  Ritsuka shrank down a little bit, as the flying creatures surrounded them.

Group of Servants spread out, forming a half circle in front of the Chaldea team.  Two women spread out to the left, one in flowing white robes and the other in an ornate red dress, covered in metal spines and a cage holding its shape out.  To the right, a tall, pale man in a long black coat and a… probably man in a blue uniform with flowing blonde hair took up positions.  And right in the middle stood a pale, black armored mirror of Jeanne, her heavy fur cloak billowing behind her.  “What the hell is this?”

Jeanne gritted her teeth.  “So you really are…”

The other Jeanne blinked and just stared at Jeanne for a few moments.  Then she started chuckling and doubled over.  “This is too perfect!  Something like this happening now!”  Her shoulders shook violently and she clutched at her stomach, howling.

Jeanne’s expression immediately shifted to one of anger, while most of the rest of the team just looked confused.  “What are you laughing at?”

The blackened Jeanne finally managed to right herself.  “Gilles!  This little girl actually doesn’t get it!  Gilles should…”  She looked back over her shoulder and huffed.  “Oh, right.  He stayed behind this time.”

“Are you really…?”

The dark Jeanne chuckled again.  “Jeanne d’Arc?  Of course I am.”

Jeanne’s grip around her standard tightened, her knuckles turning white.  “That’s absurd!  You… you destroyed this town.  You killed so many people.  Why would I do something like this?”

Jeanne Alter visibly fought down another wave of giggles.  “Why?  You actually have to ask me why?  Did your intelligence get lowered as a Servant or something?  I think it would be obvious.  Revenge.  Revenge on France for betraying me.”  She shook her head.  “But I guess that I need to kill you now too.”  Her grin grew wider.  “I’m going to enjoy killing my idiot self.  Lancer, Assassin…”  She was cut off as a glowing blue arrow tore through the air.  She barely managed to move fast enough to avoid having her eye taken out.

“You talk too much,” EMIYA said flatly, already notching another glowing missile.

“Get her papa!” Ritsuka called out from her safe place behind Mash.

“Kill them all!” Jeanne Alter snapped, falling back behind her Servants as the four closed in and the dragons roared.  There was a moment of total silence.  Then everything started moving at once.  Cu and the black Lancer collided with a clash of metal on metal, their spears locking between their bodies for just a moment before they separated again.  The blue Saber lunged forward, only to be met by Arturia’s blade, their swords moving in patterns too fast for anyone other than a Servant to see as they lunged back and forth.  The red Assassin waved a hand, calling spiked chains into existence around her, but they were swatted aside as Sasaki stepped forward, his blade moving in perfectly controlled motions to bat the spearing chains away before they could hit anyone.  The white robed Rider raised her staff and leaped forward, only to be met by the staff of CasCu.  Fire exploded off of Cu’s staff while golden light blasted back off of Rider’s.  The swirl of energy consumed both of them for a moment, scorching the grass at their feet and hiding them from view as they clashed.

EMIYA just clicked his tongue and opened fire, magical arrows blasting through wings, claws, and any vulnerable spot he can find as the dragons swarmed them.  Rin’s energy blasts fired almost nonstop, hammering the beasts whenever they swooped around to draw close.  And Jeanne herself charged forward, her standard batting aside wyverns and blasts of fire as she tried to close the gap on her dark counterpart.

“I told you this was a bad idea,” EMIYA muttered as he picked wyverns from the sky, trying to keep them off his allies as they held back the enemy Servants.

Jeanne grunted as she was forced back a few paces before she could get any closer to her evil doppelganger.  “I apologize,” she said, slamming her banner into the ground and repelling a wave of dragon fire, “For my selfishness.”

“How the heck…”  Cu grunted as the other Lancer pressed him back, his feet tearing divots out of the dirt beneath him as he was forced back.  “Are you this strong?”

“This is a little absurd,” CasCu added as he threw up a runic barrier to repel one of Rider’s attacks.

Jeanne Alter laughed.  “These are my Berserk Servants!  Their power has been amplified several times over with a powerful Mad Enhancement.  You never stood a chance against them to begin with.”

“How horrid.”  There was a flicker and a beautiful [glass rose](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiE9Hy4qpvE) flew through the air and buried itself in the ground at the dark Jeanne’s feet.  “Such beautiful people… all taken over by hate and anger.  Surely even those who do evil should be happy, no?  That is why I’ll stand up to you.”  Another woman, dressed in a short red dress with a huge, puffy red hat on her head appeared from over a hill, her long platinum blonde hair flowing behind her.

“The hell…” Jeanne Alter muttered.  “Another Servant?”

“Ah…”  The Berserk Saber froze in place, nearly losing his head as Arturia’s blade continued while his nearly froze as well.  He tumbled backwards, his clothes taking on a layer of dirt as he bounced across the ground.

“Though I might be a little frightened…” the new arrival continued.  “I would fight for my beloved France until my dress is tattered and the last breath leaves my body.”

“You know her?” Jeanne Alter snapped, glancing in her Saber’s direction.

The Berserk Saber seemed oddly hesitant for a spirit under a madness curse.  “Such a beautiful woman… she is the Flower of Versailles, the queen of France, Marie Antoinette.”

“Marie Antoinette,” Mash echoed, raising her shield to guard against a dragon’s talons.

Ritsuka frowned.  “She’s really pretty,” she said after a moment.  “But now there’s another Miss Marie…”

“Just a pampered little princess,” Jeanne Alter grumbled.  “You have no right to interfere with us.  Someone like you who knows nothing of our fury and betrayal has absolutely no right to get in our way at all.”

Marie pouted.  “Maybe that’s true… I am nothing more than the queen who failed to stop a revolution.  But that’s why I want to understand you.”

Jeanne Alter just stopped and stared.  “Come again,” she said.  The dark Servant didn’t even sound angry anymore.  She just sounded baffled.

“Do we have any snacks,” Ritsuka murmured to Mash.  “This feels like something we should have snacks to watch.”

“You who were the saint of my dreams… I want to understand how someone like you could simply take your anger out on all of these innocent people!  For someone who loved France so much to throw such a painful temper tantrum…  And with your other self here, I think that I can understand you.  That’s why I will claim your heart!  No, I’ll claim both of you!”

There was a very long moment of silence.  “What?” Jeanne said flatly.

Marie blushed.  “Oh dear, that didn’t come out right.  What I meant was that I will have you kneel and acknowledge me as your queen!”

EMIYA groaned.  “So many mental images I didn’t need…”

The two Cus just shrugged.  “Eh, not the worst that we’ve met,” the Lancer said as he kicked his opponent back.

“Oh definitely,” the Caster said as he cleared some space with a blast of fire.

“What are they talking about?” Ritsuka asked, cocking her head.

“Grown up things, honey,” Rin said without looking down.  “We’ll talk about it when you’re older.”

Marie huffed and pouted.  “Now that’s just rude.  Amadeus!  We need to go!”

Another Servant, this one in a flowing black and gold outfit appeared from behind Marie.  “Of course my lady.  Allow me to perform a special piece just for this moment.  Requiem for Death!”

The air rippled with sound as the horrible noise pressed down on all of the combatants.  “Argh.”  Jeanne Alter dropped to one knee and her Berserk Servants cried out, covering their ears and falling back as the wave of discord washed over the battlefield.

“Now’s our chance to retreat!” Jeanne called out.  “Let’s go.”

“I guess we’re not in a position to turn down new friends,” EMIYA muttered as the group turned tail and bolted.


End file.
